


Revealed Secrets

by TMNT_Raph_fan



Series: Romance and Doom [2]
Category: Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 13:19:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 13,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3448637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TMNT_Raph_fan/pseuds/TMNT_Raph_fan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaitlyn Grimm, teenage super hero and friend to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, has been keeping her vigilante activities a secret from her Uncle, Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four. He begins to notice subtle changes in his niece's behavior, but before Ben can learn the truth, he and the rest of the Fantastic Four are captured by a villainous duo who plan to take over the city. It's up to Kaitlyn and the turtle brothers to set things right. But can she succeed without the truth being discovered, or is it time to let secrets be revealed?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Rated for language in some chapters

In the sewers beneath New York, where five mutants called home, four familiar turtles were involved in their daily training. Master Splinter stood at the side giving instruction. The brothers concentrated on their footwork, making sure to execute the moves as precise as possible. Finally, Master Splinter ended the session for the day and the turtles relaxed.  
“If you need me, I’ll be in meditation.” Master Splinter told them, entering his room and closing the door behind him.  
“TV time!” Mikey called, leaping towards the couch and grabbing the remote on his way.  
“No way, Mikey!” Raph demanded, chasing after him, “You ain’t choosin’ what we watch.”  
Leo shook his head at the scene as Don made his way to his lab. Mikey and Raph continued to fight over the remote, the channels flickering by as they both tried to gain control. The flickering stopped at a news channel where the Fantastic Four were mentioned.  
“Wait!” Mikey shrieked. Everyone turned their attention to the TV. It was showing the last few moments of a battle the Fantastic Four were engaged in. Reporters were seen at the side, ready to jump in and ask questions once the fighting ended. It appeared the Fantastic Four were at a benefit of sorts when they were attacked by the Frightful Four. The Thing matched strengths with Dragon Man, the Human Torch flew around the room avoiding the Trapster’s paste mix, the invisible Woman used her force shields against Claw, and Mister Fantastic was outsmarting the Wizard.  
“Where’s Kit Kat?” Raph asked, worried.  
“Since when did you start worrying about Kaitlyn?” Leo asked.  
“I’m not!” Raph lied. The battle on the screen concluded and the Fantastic Four were now surrounded by reporters. At that moment Kaitlyn and Kris Grimm, the Thing’s twin niece and nephew, came onscreen and stood next to their Uncle. Raph relaxed, glad that Kaitlyn wasn’t hurt; even though he knew a tough girl like her couldn’t be hurt easily.  
“Raph and Kit Kat, sittin’ in a tree.” Mikey began to sing.  
“Zip it, knucklehead!” Raph growled. He needed to be more careful. If his brothers ever found out he and Kaitlyn actually had kissed, he knew he would never hear the end of it. Raph thought back to that moment on the roof. It had been a little unexpected, but still felt right.  
The Fantastic Four finished answering questions and the reporters were ushered out, ending the special news broadcast. Raph took the opportunity to claim the remote from Mikey.  
“Hey!” Mikey whined, “No fair!”  
“It’s totally fair, shell-fer-brains.” Raph retorted, “You let yer guard down.”  
“Give it back!” Mikey begged.  
“Not a chance.” Raph told him, changing the channel to a wrestling match. Mikey let out a whine and flopped onto the couch, defeated.


	2. Secrets

Kaitlyn lay in her bed, asleep. It had been two months since she became the vigilante known as Mystery, and last night she was out late again, stopping the criminals of New York. Her bedside alarm sounded, informing her that she needed to begin getting ready for school. She opened her eyes and looked at her clock, using her telekinesis to silence the alarm. She got to her feet and walked over to the closet. She used her intangibility to phase her hand through the door and grab some clothes. Once she was dressed, she made her way to the kitchen for breakfast. Her brother, Kris, was already seated at the table, chewing away. She greeted her Uncle Ben, who was making the morning meal like he always did.  
“Good morning, Uncle Ben.”  
“Kit Kat, where were you last night?” He asked.  
Kaitlyn froze. Her Uncle didn’t know about her late night activities, or her super powers, which included super strength like him.  
“Last night?” She asked, playing dumb and taking a seat at the table. She didn’t like lying to her Uncle, but knew he would make her hang up her mask if he found out, telling her she was too young and that the hero job was too dangerous. Ben turned to look at her. His expression told her that he knew she was lying and his feelings were hurt because of it.  
“I went to check on you, and you weren’t in your bed.” He told her. Kaitlyn didn’t know what to say, so she stayed quiet, shrinking into her chair and staring at the table.  
Kris had stopped eating to listen, fork still hanging from his mouth. He was curious as to what his goody-goody twin sister was hiding.  
Ben put a plate in front of her. On it was French toast and sausage. Kaitlyn slowing began eating, aware that her Uncle had taken the seat across from her.  
“I also noticed your grades have been slipping.” He said, “They’re still excellent marks, but I know you can do better.”  
“I’ve just been too busy to study as often.” Kaitlyn told him.  
“Doing what?” He asked.  
She was silent again.  
“Kaitlyn.” He spoke sternly. She looked up at him. He had always called her Kit Kat, which meant he was really upset with her. Kaitlyn looked away and put down her fork, despite only eating half her breakfast.  
Kris chose this moment to pick up his plate and sneak off, expecting the situation would soon get too awkward.  
“You know you can tell me anything, right?” Ben continued to speak to Kaitlyn, this time with a softer tone. Kaitlyn stood, keeping her gaze turned away from him. “I’m going to be late for school.” She told him, and walked out, leaving the rest of her breakfast uneaten.  
  


~*~

  
The school hours droned by, but eventually the students were released. Kaitlyn exited the school and began to head home. She was walking past an alley when a small shuriken, tied with a red ribbon, shot out and dug into the ground in front of her. She stopped and looked around. Her gaze turned to the alley and she smiled. She walked down the alley and stopped halfway.  
“Careful.” She said, “The sun’s up. Someone might see you.”  
“Maybe if I wasn’t a ninja.” Raph retorted, jumping down from the fire escape, “I made sure no one was watching.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and she did the same around his neck. They came together in a kiss. They heard a short, familiar sounding burst of laughter from above and quickly glanced upward. Three green heads were seen ducking behind the edge of the building.  
“You gotta be kiddin’ me.” Raph sighed.  
“Made sure no one was watching, hm?” Kaitlyn teased, “Guess now’s a good a time as any to confess.”  
“What else is left to confess?” Raph joked as he watched Kaitlyn climb the fire escape. She reached the top and peered over the edge.  
“Hey, boys. Fancy meeting you here.” She greeted.  
Leo, Don and Mike froze, knowing they had no excuse.  
“Heh. Hey, Kaitlyn.” Leo returned. Don and Mike just smiled.  
Raph came up beside Kaitlyn on the fire escape and Mikey’s smile grew. He opened his mouth to tease, but Raph stopped him.  
“Don’t even think it, Mikey.” Raph warned.  
Mikey closed his mouth and instead started giggling.  
Raph turned to Leo and Don after a moment of glaring down at Mikey, “So what gives?”  
“Are you referring to us following and spying on you?” Don asked, as if there was something else Raph could possibly mean by his question.  
“What else?” Raph replied.  
“Well, you’ve been sneaking out of the lair every day at this time for a while.” Leo began to explain, “We were curious to what you were up to.”  
“Raphie’s in love!” Mikey blurted, unable to contain himself. He began making teasing kissy noises.  
“That’s it!” Raph launched himself at his brother and they proceeded to wrestle across the rooftop.  
“So, when did it happen?” Leo asked Kaitlyn.  
“Not long after you helped me free the FF.” She replied, “We just realized we had more in common than we originally thought, and the next thing we knew, we were kissing as the sun set.” She blushed slightly as she replayed the memory.  
“Isn’t that what I said?” Don reminded her, “About you two being more in common. I believe I recall the two of you brushing that little fact aside with a grumble when I first brought it up.”  
“What? ‘I told you so’ too simple for you, Donnie?” She returned, glancing at the clock on her phone, “I have to get going. Uncle Ben will be expecting me. Raph!”  
The two brothers stopped and looked up. Raph had Mikey pinned to the ground, but released his hold to go give Kaitlyn a kiss.  
“Ooooooh.” Mikey teased.  
Raph shot him a glare.  
“I’ll see you guys tonight for patrol.” Kaitlyn told them as she climbed back down the fire escape and began heading home.  
  


~*~

  
Kaitlyn arrived at home and found Kris and Johnny watching TV. She waved to them but they were too preoccupied to notice. She continued down the hall, heading to her room to begin her homework.  
“Kit Kat.”  
She heard her Uncle call and turned around to greet him, “Hey, Uncle Ben.”  
“You’re getting home later than usual.” He said, more as a question than a statement.  
Kaitlyn hesitated slightly, “I was with some friends.” Technically that wasn’t a lie. But Ben still knew there was something she wasn’t telling him.  
“Alright.” He said after a moment, “You off to do yer homework?”  
“Yeah.” She replied. There was an awkwardness beginning to form.  
“I’ll let you get to it then.”  
Kaitlyn nodded and continued to her room.  
 _I’m sorry, Uncle Ben, Maybe someday I can tell you my secrets._


	3. What Secrets Cost

Dr. Doom sat in his castle. It had taken him longer to abolish the charges against him than he deemed necessary, but now that he had no more distractions, he was finally able to begin looking into the mysterious malfunctions that plagued his castle during his last attempt at destroying the Fantastic Four.  
“Miss Von Bardas.” He beckoned.  
“Yes, my lord?” she answered.  
“Have you gone through the security footage yet?”  
“Yes, my lord. Several abnormalities were discovered. I have set the footage aside for you.”  
“Excellent. Now leave me.” Doom ordered.  
The female robot left the room and Doom began viewing the footage. It showed a green creature leaping down from above and luring two doombots away from the dungeon entrance. Doom’s eyes narrowed. He moved onto the next footage, this one of the Fantastic Four’s escape. Doom noticed that the cells’ power had been cut. He went into the system records and brought up the cell control panel log from that night. It indicated that someone had tempered with the controls. He returned to the video and zoomed in to view the panel. He silently regretted not lighting the area better. He searched the videos further, in hopes to find a better look at the trespasser. He paused the footage at the moment he and the Fantastic Four had their final battle for that day, but that’s not what he was focused on. Up in the ceiling beams was the same green creature as before with three others like him, as well as the vigilante known as Mystery.  
“Hmmm. Curious.” Doom mumbled to himself, “Those creatures seem familiar.” Doom thought for a moment, “Of course! The same creature was with the Thing’s niece when I caught her snooping around my lab.” Doom stood and walked down a small set of steps in front of his throne. “Miss Grimm must have returned for her family,” Doom continued, “And brought these creatures with her.” He was walking towards the room’s entrance, but paused. “Strange that these creatures were seen with both Miss Grimm and the vigilante.” He said, before emitting a low, menacing laugh, “I believe I know your secret, child. I’ll find a way to exploit it later.” And with that, Doom walked out to continue his business.  
  


~*~

  
Kaitlyn finished her homework early and decided to hang out with the turtles before they went out on patrol. She quickly packed her costume and headed off to ask her Uncle.  
“I finished my homework. Is it okay if I go out and hang with some friends?” she asked upon entering the kitchen.  
“Oh.” Ben responded, “I was just about to come ask if you wanted to watch the game with me.”  
“Uh, well …” Kaitlyn began.  
“Maybe your friends would like to join us?” Ben offered.  
“They can’t.” Kaitlyn told him quickly, “They, uh, need to … do something … at their house … and I promised to help if I got my homework done.”  
Ben’s shoulders sank, “Alright. Have fun then.”  
“Thanks, Uncle Ben.” Kaitlyn said, jogging towards the elevator, “I will.”  
“Remember your curfew.” Ben called after her.  
“Yes, Uncle Ben.” She entered the elevator and the doors closed after her. Ben let out a sigh.  
“What’s wrong?” Susan asked, entering the kitchen.  
“I don’t know. I just …” Ben began, trailing off for a moment, “I remember mine and Kit Kat’s relationship being better than this.”  
“How so?” Susan prompted, “What changed?”  
“She could tell me anything, would tell me anything. And she loved hangin’ out with me.” Ben told Susan, “Now she’s keeping secrets from me; doesn’t want her friends to come here. She’s probably too embarrassed of me to introduce me to her friends.”  
“Ben.” Susan began to console him.  
“Not to mention she’s sneaking out, getting lower grades and won’t tell me what’s wrong.” Ben continued, “I could help. I mean, if she needs a tutor, I can ask stretch, but other than that …” He paused, “I should’a known it was too good to last.”  
“Ben, Kaitlyn thinks the world of you.” Susan told him.  
“She used to, Suzie.” Ben replied, “Now I’m not so sure she thinks of me at all.”  
  


~*~

  
Kaitlyn took an elevator down to the turtles’ lair.  
“Hey guys!” She called out, “I’m early.”  
“I’d say.” Don responded from his lab, “We won’t be going on patrol for at least an hour.”  
“I know. I finished my homework early and thought I’d-“  
“Stop by to see Raph?” Don finished.  
“Not just, mister mind reader.” She told him, “I came to hang out with all of you.”  
Donnie gave her a teasing smile, “Well, I remember Mikey was trying to rally together a video game tournament, but nobody went for it.”  
“Then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”  
“What?”  
“Time to take a break.” Kaitlyn said, pulling Donnie away from his computer. She whistled to call out the other turtle brothers. Raph was the first to emerge.  
“Hey, Kit Kat.” He greeted her, putting his arm around her waist.  
Leo and Mikey came out to join them.  
“Hey. You’re early.” Leo stated.  
“Yeah, and I think, before patrol, we should have a video game tournament.” Kaitlyn announced. Mikey gave a small cheer. He and Kaitlyn walked over to the television set and the remaining three brothers followed.  
“Game on!” Mikey cried, grabbing a controller.  
  


~*~

  
The teens played for an hour, with Mikey taking the victory.  
“In your face, Raph!” Mikey taunted.  
“Whatever.” Raph replied.  
“I see why nobody wanted to do the tournament.” Kaitlyn whispered to Raph as Mikey continued his victory dance.  
“Time for patrol.” Leo interrupted, already waiting by the elevator, “Let’s go.”  
The others joined him, and together they went topside.  
They leapt over rooftops, keeping a watchful eye on the street below. It started off as a quiet night, with only a few easy-to-stop muggings. But soon things picked up as they saw Hun and the Purple Dragons doing some dirty business.  
“What’s lard butt up to this time?” Raph asked.  
“Looks like the usual.” Leo replied, “Weapons deal.”  
“Which means the usual drill for us.” Don added.  
“Destroy and conquer?” Mikey asked with a playful smile.  
“More like destroy and subdue, Mikey.” Mystery corrected him, “As in, destroy all weapons and subdue all bad guys.”  
“Sounds like a party.” Raph said. Mystery smiled.  
“Everyone clear on the plan?” Leo asked. The others nodded. “Then let’s move out.”  
They unsheathed their weapons and leapt off the roof.


	4. Dragons Don't Have Curfews

Hun watched over the operation as his Purple Dragons loaded trucks with black market weaponry. Everything was on schedule and going according to plan. He just hoped that certain mutant brothers and their new vigilante friend wouldn’t show up.  
So far, so good.  
Suddenly, a muffled thud was heard from inside the warehouse. Hun let out an irritated growl and began walking towards the source of the sound. Inside the warehouse, a single crate of weapons lay on the floor, next to a pyramid of crates just like it.  
“One’a the boxes must’a fallen off the pile.” One of the Dragons suggested.  
“Hmmmm.” Hun stared at the crate, suspicious.  
“Hey, where’s Two-ton?” Another Dragon asked. Hun looked around. Two-ton was, in fact, absent.  
“I don’t like this, one bit.” Hun told his men, “Keep a close lookout. And let’s get those trucks loaded already!”  
Hun and the Dragons walked back outside to continue loading crates.  
“What the-!?” Hun blurted as he noticed that every single one of the trucks’ tires were slashed, “Who was watching the trucks!?” the Purple Dragons looked around at one another; no one giving Hun an answer. “You idiots!” he bellowed, “Find who did this!”  
The street gang separated and searched the area. Hun stayed with the trucks to make a call. “Dragon Face! I need more trucks down here!” he demanded.  
“On the way, boss.” Came the reply.  
“Dragons!” Hun called out after hanging up.  
He got no answer.  
He let out a low growl, which grew into a roar, “Come out and face me!” he called to the attackers. Once again, he got no response. He began moving towards the warehouse. Once inside he saw his entire gang was unconscious and all the weapons were destroyed. He ran back out in hopes they didn’t get to the weapons already loaded on the trucks. No such luck. Hun was furious. Not only did he have no transportation, but no sellable or usable weapons as well. The night was a complete bust. Dragon Face finally pulled up in a new truck.  
“One truck?” Hun asked, knowing that it didn’t really matter anyway.  
“The others are on their way.” Dragon Face replied.  
“Tell them to turn around.” Hun sighed.  
“Why? What happened?”  
“It was a damn waste of time.”  
Sirens started blaring in the distance. Hun cursed.  
“The cops?” Dragon Face asked, confused, “How’d they get the drop on us?”  
“Worry about that later!” Hun bellowed, “Get us outta here!”  
The trucks tires squealed and tore away from the scene, leaving behind the other Purple Dragons, and the damaged trucks and weapons.  
  


~*~

  
“Hun got away.” Raph growled, as the turtles and Mystery watched the police gather up the damaged weapons and the Purple Dragons who were left behind.  
“He’s a hard one to catch.” Leo told him, “We did what we could. This area is secure. We should continue with our patrol.” He headed towards the next rooftop with Mikey and Don in tow. Raph and Mystery stayed behind a moment longer, and then joined the others in continuing their patrol. They flew across rooftops as the people below moved down the sidewalk, oblivious to the activity above.  
  


~*~

  
Ben Grimm sat on the couch, flickering between different news channels. He glanced at the clock and the worry on his face intensified. Kaitlyn was supposed to be home an hour ago. She hadn’t even called, and when Ben tried to call her he got no answer. Several call attempts later with the same result, Ben decided to sit, wait, and hope that Kaitlyn returned safely.  
He turned back to the TV, before quickly glancing in the direction of Kaitlyn’s room. He hit the mute button, hoping the sound he’d heard hadn’t come from the TV. He quickly got up and moved towards Kaitlyn’s room. He slid open the door as soon as he got there. His eyes darted to the bed and saw a figure hidden under the sheets. As quietly as he could, Ben walked over to the bed and drew back the covers enough to see Kaitlyn’s face. Ben let out a sigh of relief before returning the covers to their previous position.  
He walked over to the window, now open and letting in a gentle breeze, and closed it. The curtains fell still against the glass and he walked back to the door. “Good night, Kit Kat. We’ll talk in the morning.” He whispered, before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.  
  
Kaitlyn listened to his soft, but heavy footsteps lead back towards his room. She had lost track of time while out on patrol and hurried back to the Baxter Building in a panic when she realized she was late.  
When the footsteps ceased she sat up, still in her Mystery outfit. She held her mask in her gloved hand, which she kept hidden under her pillow. She sat there for several moments, wishing she had paid attention to the time and got home sooner. She finally stood and quietly got changed into her pajamas. Crawling back into bed, she wondered how she was going to explain this to her Uncle. There was no way of getting to her bedroom window from the outside without using some kind of object to levitate herself up to it, and she couldn’t tell her Uncle that’s how she did it.  
Tomorrow morning was going to be difficult.


	5. Grounded

Kaitlyn woke up, and for a moment forgot about the discussion she was going to have with her Uncle. She flopped back down on her pillow and groaned as the memory came back. She rolled to her side and looked at the window. Last night, the sound of opening it had alerted her Uncle, leaving only enough time for Kaitlyn to pull off her mask and dive into bed. Her face scrunched into a thoughtful frown as she silently questioned why she opened it and climbed through instead of soundlessly phasing through the wall. She knew her other two powers were weakened when she used one, but she should have had enough strength to phase despite using her telekinesis at the same time. Perhaps she wanted her Uncle to hear her, as a way of letting him know she was home. Kaitlyn sat up in her bed. Either way, she was busted for staying out late. She got out of bed and got dressed, all the while trying to come up with a reasonable excuse. She thought about trying to avoid her Uncle before school. Not a permanent solution, she knew, but at least it would give her some more time to think.  
She opened her door, and her Uncle was standing on the other side.  
‘ _So much for that plan._ ’ She thought.  
“Care to explain what happened last night?” He asked, a touch of anger in his voice.  
“I know, I know.” She said, guilt evident on her face, “I’m really sorry. I lost track of the time and I didn’t want to bother anyone, so I snuck in.”  
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”  
She raised her eyebrows slightly as she remembered putting her phone on silent for the stealth activity she did last night. She feigned confusion, “I must have had it on vibrate and didn’t realize you were calling.”  
Her Uncle went silent. Kaitlyn realized he hadn’t mentioned the window or asked how she got in yet. ‘ _He must not have thought anything of it._ ’ She thought.  
“This is becoming a habit.” He finally said.  
“What?” She asked, playing dumb.  
“Staying out late and sneaking in.” he told her, “And we still haven’t talked about your grades slipping.”  
“They haven’t gone down by much.” She countered. When she first started as Mystery, Kaitlyn had some trouble balancing her ordinary life with her superhero one, and grades had suffered for it. But now that she was used to juggling them both, she was certain her grades would go up. “I’ll get them back up. I promise.” She told her Uncle.  
“I’m having trouble believing you right now, Kaitlyn.”  
Her shoulders sank. That was the second time he’d ever called her that since giving her that nick name.  
“You’re grounded until you get your grades up, and,” He paused, “until you stop lying to me.” Her Uncle’s voice panged with sadness. He turned and walked off down the hall. Kaitlyn stood at her bedroom door for a moment longer. Her Uncle’s words hurt more than being caught in a warehouse explosion. She fought back tears as she finally began making her way to the elevator, deciding to skip breakfast to avoid any more confrontations with her Uncle.  
  


~*~

  
She got to the school earlier and went to the bleachers to eat the breakfast sandwich she picked up on the way.  
“Hey.”  
She turned to see her best friend J.J. climbing up to meet her.  
“Hey.” She returned, faking a smile, “How’d you find me?”  
“You always come here when you’re upset.” He replied.  
“Fair enough, but how did you know I was upset?”  
“Your brother texted me.” J.J. told her.  
Kaitlyn smiled. Despite his constant teasing, Kris truly did care about her.  
“So, what’s buggin’ ya?” J.J. asked.  
She hesitated. Like her Uncle, J.J. was also unaware that Kaitlyn and Mystery was the same person. She wanted to tell him and trusted him enough to do so. But when Doctor Doom kidnapped her brother for just being with the Fantastic Four at the time, Kaitlyn realized the less J.J. knew, the safer he’d be.  
“Uncle Ben is upset with me,” She finally told him, “because I’m keeping secrets.”  
They sat in silence for a short moment, as J.J. thought about what to say.  
“Does this have anything to do with you being Mystery?” He finally asked.  
She shot up straight and stared at him with utter shock and disbelief.  
“Oh, come on. How could I not know it was you?” He told her, “I saw you on the news and recognized your voice. Not to mention you went after your parents’ murderer.”  
Kaitlyn thought for a moment, “Why didn’t you say anything?”  
“I figured you had a good reason for keeping it secret, so I decided to let you tell me on your own terms.” He replied, “But it looks like you need someone to talk to about it, which is why I spoke up when I did.”  
Kaitlyn looked at her shoes.  
“So, what’s up?” J.J. continued with a soothing tone.  
“Uncle Ben knows I’m keeping something from him.” She began to explain, “He knows I’ve been sneaking out and he’s grounded me.”  
“And the reason you can’t tell him the truth is …?”  
“Because he’ll make me stop being Mystery.”  
J.J. paused, “Are you sure? Your Uncle seems like the kind’a guy who’d approve. Especially since you have super strength like him.”  
Kaitlyn looked up at J.J., hope gleaming in her eyes, as she thought about what he was saying.  
“It’s really up to you in the end,” J.J. continued, “But I think you should give him a chance. Your Uncle’s a pretty cool guy. I think he’d understand.”  
As the school’s ten minute warning bell sounded, the teens grabbed their bags and headed to class.


	6. Trouble Afoot

Castle Doom stood silent, deceiving onlookers from what was happening within its walls. Doom was locked in his lab, formulating a plan for his next attack on Richards and his team, as well as the strange creatures that made the mistake of interfering. He had been investigating the four turtle men since he discovered them on his security footage. So far his search had yielded no results. Finally a name came up that seemed to be connected to the green men: The Shredder. Doom rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “This Shredder character just might be able to assist me in taking out my enemies.”  He continued his search, this time for information about the Shredder.  


 

~*~

  
Oroku Saki, otherwise known as the Shredder, sat in his office. He was going through some paper work when the intruder alert sounded throughout the building. He burst out of his office, after quickly getting into his Shredder armour, and rushed towards his Dojo, where the alert had originated. Along the way, he was joined by his daughter, Karai, his street goon, Hun, and several Foot ninjas. Shredder threw open the doors and stormed in. Standing in the middle of his Dojo was a man dressed in armour and green fabric. A metal mask hid his face. Shredder looked around the room and noticed the unwanted visitor had brought a small army of robots.  
“You dare come into my home and attempt to intimidate me with toys!?” The Shredder bellowed. He flicked his hand, giving an order. Without hesitation, Karai thrust forward, and sliced one of the robots in half effortlessly. At the same time, Hun charged at another robot and smashed it to pieces. The intruder didn’t flinch.  
“They are not here to intimidate you.” The stranger spoke, with his Latverian accent evident in his words, “They are merely my precaution. I have come to propose an alliance.”  
“What reason would I have to ally myself with you after you intruded upon my tower?” Shredder growled.  
“I know about the strange turtle creatures, and I know you have some connection to them.” The stranger replied, “They made the mistake of interfering with my plan, so I intend to destroy them.”  
“You’ve got my attention.”  
The stranger walked towards the ninja master. “I suggest we work together to exterminate both our enemies; those meddlesome turtles and the Fantastic Four.” The stranger continued.  
“The Fantastic Four? Taking down New York’s beloved superhero family will not be easy. What do I get out of this deal?” Shredder asked.  
“Aside from ridding yourself of those pesky turtles, you’ll also obtain free reign over this putrid city.”  
“You are not interested in taking New York?” Karai asked the stranger, with disbelief hinting in her voice.  
“I am already King of Latveria.” He told her, “My only interest here is to destroy my enemies.”  
“No one would remain to interfere with my business.” Shredder thought out loud. He stepped forward, towards the stranger. “That is quite the offer. What do they call you?”  
“Doom.” The stranger replied, “I am Doctor Doom.”  
“I accept your alliance, Doctor.” Shredder offered his hand and Doom shook it.  
“Then let us begin.” Doom spoke.  


 

~*~

  
School let out and Kaitlyn began making her way home. J.J. caught up with her just as she was exiting the doors.  
“Hey, need any back up?” He asked.  
“Uh, maybe.” Kaitlyn replied, “I still haven’t decided if I’m going to tell him yet. I’m still worried about what he’ll say.”  
“I know how that feels. I mean, it’s not the exact same kind of situation as yours, but I have to tell my parents I failed that science test last week.” He told her.  
“You failed?” Kaitlyn asked, with a slight giggle.  
“You know I’m not so good with the rock units.”  
She nodded, still smiling and remembering how J.J. would fall asleep during class discussions about rocks. She looked over to an alley entrance and saw a shuriken with a red ribbon tied to the end. She looked up to find Raph poking his head slightly over the edge of the building’s roof. Kaitlyn reached into her pocket and took her phone half way out, wiggling it a bit. Raph nodded, knowing it meant she would call or text him later, and vanished.  
“What are you looking at?” J.J. asked her.  
“Uh! The clouds.” Kaitlyn replied.  
“What clouds?” J.J. looked up at the clear blue sky, with not a cloud in sight.  
“That’s what I mean. I was looking for the clouds, but there aren’t any out right now.”  
J.J. looked at her, knowing she was acting a little suspicious, “More secrets?”  
“This one’s not mine to tell.”  
“Fair enough.”  
The duo walked to the Baxter Building, talking about homework and what the other has been doing lately along the way. They greeted the doorman as they entered the elevator and rode to the top.  
“Here we go.” She muttered as they entered the penthouse, “Uncle Ben? Can I talk to you?”  
“Welcome home, Miss Grimm!” Came H.E.R.B.I.E.’s peppy greeting.  
“Hey, Herb. Where’s Uncle Ben?” Kaitlyn asked.  
“The Fantastic Four are on a mission. Doctor Doom is out and causing trouble in Washington.” H.E.R.B.I.E. told her.  
“Alright.” Kaitlyn said, turning back to J.J., “Guess I have to wait ‘til he gets back. Mind hangin’ out ‘til then?”  
“Not at all.” J.J. replied, walking towards the TV and games.


	7. Turtles to the Rescue

Several hours had passed since Kaitlyn and J.J. got to the Baxter Building and the Fantastic Four were still out. Kaitlyn had already texted Raph, explaining why she couldn’t join him and his brothers for patrol. In the meantime, Kris had arrived home and gone directly to his room, most likely to play online computer games and avoid doing his homework.  
Kaitlyn glanced at the clock.  
“Something wrong?” J.J. asked her.  
“They should have been home by now.” She replied, “Unless the situation is more serious than I thought.” She sat up quickly, a sense of worry welling up inside her, “H.E.R.B.I.E., what’s the status of the Fantastic Four?”  
“Lost communications an hour ago.” H.E.R.B.I.E. stated flatly.  
“What!? Why didn’t you say something?” Kaitlyn demanded.  
“Benjamin informed me that you were grounded and that I was to make sure you remained here.” H.E.R.B.I.E. whined.  
“I think we can make an exception in this case.”  
“But Miss Grimm! It’s too dangerous!” the A.I. protested.  
“He’s right, Kit Kat. You shouldn’t go alone.” J.J. told her.  
“I won’t be alone J.J. But you won’t be the one coming with me.” Kaitlyn said.  
“Because I don’t have any ‘special’ talents?” J.J. asked with a playful smile, referring to her super powers, “Y’know, Batman doesn’t either.” He held up the Batman comic he was reading.  
Kaitlyn smiled, “Not true. He has a life time of training and the title of greatest detective.” She got up and walked towards her room. J.J. followed and waited outside her door as she changed into costume. He walked in just as she was about to head out the window. “You said you wouldn’t be alone. Did you mean more superheroes?” he asked her.  
“Something like that.” She leapt out the window, using her super strength to give her enough distance to make it to the next building. J.J. watched from the window as she ran across rooftops.  
“Be safe.” He said, before leaving the Baxter Building and heading home.  
  
Kaitlyn pulled out her phone and dialed.  
“Hey, babe.” Raph answered the call.  
“Hey. I need to ask a favour.” Mystery began, “The F.F. lost communication about an hour ago after dealing with Doctor Doom out in Washington. I was hoping we could take the Shellicopter over to check on them.”  
“Absolutely. Where are ya? We’ll pick ya up.” Came his response.  
Mystery smiled, “Just left of the Baxter. At the corner of fifth.”  
“’Kay. Stay put.” Raph hung up.  
Mystery stopped and waited on the roof. A few moments later, she heard a helicopter rotor in the distance. The sound got louder until Donnie’s re-mastered Shellicopter was above Mystery. A ladder was lowered and she quickly climbed it. Raph was at the top to greet her.  
“So, what’s the story?” He asked her.  
“Not sure. The F.F. went to deal with Doom and then nothing.” Mystery told him, “We need to get over there and find out what happened.”  
“Setting course.” Donnie spoke from the cockpit.  
The Shellicopter flew off, towards their destination.  
  


~*~

  
Mystery and the turtles arrived in Washington almost two hours later. Donnie brought the Shellicopter down in an open area that was clear of people and hidden from spying eyes. The group exited the air craft.  
“So, what now?” Mikey asked, “It’s not like we can go up to someone and ask if a team of superheroes were seen fighting a tin man in a green cloak.”  
Mystery walked over to the edge of the opening and peered out. “We may not have to.” She told them, a confused frown playing on her face.  
“What do you mean?” Leo asked. The turtles joined Mystery and saw what she was referring to. The city held visible evidence of a recent battle and was infested with Doombots. The area was clear of any citizens, who probably escaped the city when Doom had first attacked.  
“Why are they just standing there?” Don asked.  
“The better question is why are  _they_  still here when  _Doom_  isn’t?” Mystery added.  
“Could be a trap.” Leo suggested.  
“For who? Doom doesn’t know who we are.” Raph told them.  
“But he does know we exist.” Don reminded them.  
“And he knows that we’re the ones who ruined his last plan.” Mikey began to panic, “He’s totally out for revenge!”  
The Doombots shot their heads around to face Mystery and the turtles after hearing Mikey’s sudden outburst.  
“Mikey!” The others scolded.  
The Doombots raised their weapons, and began shooting the teens. Mystery sank into the ground as the turtles leapt up and out of the way. Raph threw one of his sais, taking out a Doombot. Mystery shot out of the ground and took out another.  
“We need to keep one intact to find out what happened to the Fantastic Four.” Mystery told the turtles as they proceeded to destroy several Doombots. Suddenly, another wave of Doombots came out, seemingly from nowhere, and surrounded Mystery and the turtles.  
“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.” Don said.  
The Doombots closed in, their weapons raised.  
“Doom’s word is law.” They chanted.  
The teens fought back as best they could. Donnie took out his electric throwing stars and shot them at several Doombots. They stuck, but when the electric charge activated, nothing happened.  
“Uh oh, “Donnie began, “Doom must have somehow shock proofed his robots. My electric shurikens are useless.”  
“And when we take out one ‘bot,” Leo said, slicing his Katana through a Doombot, “Two more just take its place.”  
“Sounds like Hydra.” Mystery said, mostly to herself, “So, what now, Leo? Tactical retreat?” She kicked a Doombot, sending it into two others.  
“That appears to be our only option.” Leo replied, cutting up a few more Doombots.  
“Then hold on,” Mystery held out her hands to the turtle brothers, “We’re phasing down.”


	8. Tactical Retreat

Doctor Doom and Shredder watched a monitor showing the teen heroes facing off against the Doombots. The Fantastic Four were restrained against the back wall behind the villains watching the same monitor. The restraints kept the heroes’ hands pinned to the wall and prevented them from utilizing their powers. When the teens had first appeared on the monitor, the Fantastic Four had been curious about the humanoid turtle creatures. But their curiosity was soon replaced by worry and anger as they realized Doom had sent his Doombots after the teens and they were now fighting for their lives.  
“Doom! Enough! They’re just children.” Susan Storm begged.  
Doom gave no response.  
“Yer nothin’ but a coward, Doom! You and yer new pal! Pickin’ on kids.” The Thing growled.  
“What could they have possibly done to you, Doom?” Reed asked, “That you would go to another mind, just as twisted as yours, for help.”  
“They interfered with my plans.” Doom replied, “This is punishment for their crimes.”  
“Hardly a crime.” The Thing muttered.  
They continued to watch the monitor as the teens appeared to hold hands. They began to sink into the ground; any attempt from the Doombots to stop them failed as they fell right through the teens.  
“What just happened!?” The shredder bellowed.  
Doom let out a noise of irritation as he narrowed his eyes, “It appears the girl has the ability to become intangible.”  
“You didn’t know!?”  
“Of course I didn’t know. If I had, I would have made preparations to keep her from using that ability of hers.”  
“Your ignorance is your weakness, Doom.” Reed spoke up, “It will once again lead to your downfall.”  
“You know nothing of my weakness, Richards.” Doom hissed.  
“Don’t I?” Reed challenged.  
Doom glared at his rival.  
“You made a promise to me, Doom.” The Shredder interjected, “Make sure you keep it, otherwise you will be the one I punish.”  
“How dare you threaten me.” Doom growled, “Do not forget that I came to you and have allowed you into my castle, which you will not leave alive unless I permit it.”  
“You forget who you speak to, Doom.” The door opened and Karai walked in, wielding her sword, “My father is not one to be trifled with.” She warned.  
“Father?” Reed muttered under his breath.  
“No need to draw weapons, dear child.” Doom told her, “You will get what you bargained for.” He left the room to begin preparations for the backup plan.  
“Awe, was that their first fight?” The Thing teased.  
Karai shot out her sword and rested it beneath the Thing’s chin, “Mind how you speak, monster.” She threatened, giving him a glare.  
The Thing didn’t flinch, “You think that can hurt me?”  
“I’m sure I can find a way.” She replied.  
“Patience, Karai. They will have their time.” The Shredder told his daughter as he moved towards the door, “Watch them while I keep an eye on Doom’s actions. I will send Hun to aid you.”  
Karai’s face scrunched in disgust at Hun’s mention. “Yes, father.” She lowered her sword, and the Shredder left to find Doom.  
  


~*~

  
Mystery and the turtle brothers rose up from the ground beside the Shellicopter.  
“There’s an interesting experience I don’t ever want to have again.” Mikey whined.  
Leo quickly covered his mouth, “Shh. We don’t want to give away our position. Again.” He whispered.  
Mikey let out a muffled “sorry” before Leo removed his hand. They climbed into the Shellicopter.  
“How good is the stealth?” Mystery asked.  
“Invisible to radar and virtually soundless.” Don replied.  
“But if someone were to look right at us?” She continued.  
“We’d be caught.” Don finished.  
“So there’s no chance of getting outta here without at least one Doombot spotting us.” Raph added.  
“We can sit still until the ‘bots disperse.” Leo told them.  
“That may not happen.” Mystery said, “Unless Doom needs them elsewhere, they’ll most likely stay here, especially if Doom thinks we’ll come back.”  
“Then let’s just go.” Mikey suggested, “So what if the Doombots see us.”  
“You know they can fly, right?” Mystery asked, with a hint of sarcasm.  
“Yeah, but Don can fly faster.” He replied.  
“Not if the Doombots shoot us down.” Don told him.  
“Why not shoot back?” Raph asked.  
“Do we even have that ability?” Leo added.  
Don nodded, “I installed that feature last week.”  
“Hm. Convenient.” Mystery said.  
“So it’s agreed; we make a run for it?” Leo asked.  
“Agreed.” The others replied in unison.  
“I’ll set the blasters to shoot an electromagnetic pulse, so one hit will keep them down.” Don thought out loud, “Just one more thing before takeoff: Where are we running to?”  
“Castle Doom.” Mystery replied, “That’s where we’ll find out what happened to the Fantastic Four.”


	9. Attempted Rescue

Doom stood in front of a computer console in his lab, typing away at the keyboard. He was busy adjusting his information about the teen superhero. He thought about how one might defeat an individual who could become intangible at will.  
“Knocking her unconscious could work.” He thought out loud.  
“What are you doing?” Shredder asked, walking into Doom’s lab.  
“Finding a solution to our problem.” Doom replied.  
Shredder glanced around the room, “What exactly is this place?”  
“My lab. Don’t touch anything.”  
Shredder narrowed his eyes towards Doom, “I’ve never been fond of scientists.”  
“I am no mere scientist. I am a scientific Genius and you will-” Doom was cut off by the sound of an alert. Doom brought up the monitor showing the location of the Doombots in Washington.  
“What is it?” Shredder demanded.  
“The Doombots have alerted me to unauthorized movement in that area.” Doom told him, “There.” He pointed to a section of the screen where a green helicopter appeared. It was shooting down several Doombots one at a time.  
“That is unmistakably the turtles.” The Shredder spoke, “Where are they headed?”  
“Our direction.” Doom replied.  
“I’ll send a team to intercept-“  
“No.” Doom interrupted, “Let them come. We’ll be waiting.”  
“What of the girl and her powers?” Shredder asked.  
“I have a plan to deal with her.”

~*~

The teens were successful in escaping the Doombots and were now on their way to the castle.  
“So, what’s our first move when we get to Doom’s castle?” Don asked.  
“Doom could be keeping the FF on site. It may be faster to check the security room first.” Mystery said.  
“Careful, Leo,” Mikey teased, “She might be taking your place as leader.” He let out a chuckle.  
“Now is not the time for jokes, Mikey.” Leo told him.  
“Stick in the mud.” Came Mikey’s mumbled response.  
They flew through the skies, not making a sound. Finally they arrived at Doom’s castle.  
“Don’t land too close,” Leo warned, “We don’t want him to spot us.”  
Don understood and landed the Shellicopter at quite a distance from the castle. They exited the chopper and headed towards Doom’s home. They snuck inside, without realizing just how easily they did so. Making their way to the security room, they noticed the unusual lack of Doombots.  
“Maybe they’re all guarding the FF?” Mikey suggested.  
They made it to the security room and found the door unlocked.  
“Anyone else sensing a trap?” Leo asked.  
The others nodded as they drew their weapons. Leo drew his swords and turned to face the other way; keeping an eye on what’s behind them. Don slipped in first and went straight for the console. The others guarded his back; expecting anything. Suddenly the floor lit up with electricity. Leo, who was still just outside the doorway, spun around to see his team mate twitching from the electrical current being forced through their bodies.  
“Arg,Run, bro!” Raph called, with what little strength he had left, “No point … in you getting’ caught too.” The electricity ceased and all but Leo fell to the floor unconscious. Leo leaned closer, making sure not to touch the floor of the room in case it became active again.  
“Still breathing.” He sighed with relief, and ran to the shadows to wait for Doom so he could follow. It didn’t take Doom long to arrive, but what surprised Leo was that he was accompanied by the Shredder. Leo ducked further into the shadows.  
“That worked better than expected.” Leo heard Doom say.  
“Not quite.” Shredder told him, “There are only three turtles. One is missing.”  
“Curious.” Doom inspected the room, “How did he manage to avoid the shock tiles?”  
“That doesn’t matter now.” Shredder turned to his soldiers, “Foot ninja! Find him!”  
They bowed quickly and went off in search of the last intruder, but Leo had managed to get inside an air vent and slip away unnoticed.

Doom ordered his Doombots to take the remaining teens to join the Fantastic Four. He stopped the one carrying Mystery briefly enough to place a breather over her mouth attached to a tank he placed on her chest.  
“What is that?” Shredder asked, as Doom cuffed the girl’s wrists and ankles.  
“The gas will make sure she is too weak to use her powers,” Doom replied, sending the Doombot on its way, “And the cuffs will keep her from removing it.”  
The Shredder nodded; impressed.  
They followed the Doombots back to the Fantastic Four. They greeted Karai and Hun as they entered.  
“Where’s the fourth turtle?” Hun asked.  
“Being dealt with.” Shredder replied.  
“Leonardo.” Karai whispered to herself.  
The Doombots restrained the turtles next to the Fantastic Four and Mystery across from the Thing.  
“Strange.” Reed inquired, “Why is she being kept separate?”  
“Karai, Hun. Go help the Foot soldiers search for Leonardo.” Shredder ordered. Without word or hesitation, the two left the room to join the ninja in their search.  
“The circumstances are finally forming in our favour.” Shredder said.  
“Indeed.” Doom agreed.


	10. No More Secrets

Doom and Shredder had stepped out to take care of other details, when the turtles began to stir. Mikey was the first to fully regain consciousness.  
“What happened?” He groaned.  
“Alright, you’re awake.” Johnny said, sarcastically, “Now Ben has someone to share beauty tips with.”  
“Johnny Storm!” Sue scolded.  
“Don’t mind him.” Ben told the turtle brothers, as the other two became conscious, “Ol’ flame brain’s just jealous, and runnin’ outta fresh material.”  
“Bite me, brick head.” Johnny mumbled. Susan gave him a glare.  
Mikey let out a high pitched scream of excitement. Don and Raph rolled their eyes.  
“Oh boy, here it comes.” Don sighed.  
“It’s actually you guys! The Fantastic Four!” Mikey shrieked.  
“You don’t say.” Ben joked.  
“You guys are so. Cool.”  
“Mikey! This ain’t the time.” Raph snapped.  
Mikey frowned at his brother, “Yeah, yeah.”  
Then Mystery began to stir. Everyone looked her way. Her eyes shuttered until they managed to remain open, albeit a partial amount.  
“Mystery? You okay?” Raph called out, “Don, what’s that on her mouth?”  
“Some kind of breather. Doom must be using it to drug her; keep her weak.” Don replied.  
“Bastard.” Raph cursed, “Mystery, can you hear me?”  
“Raph?” The word managed to escape her mouth in a still audible but hushed breath.  
“Yeah, I’m here. Are you hurt?” He asked.  
She shook her head, “Just tired.”  
“It’s the gas.” Don confirmed.  
Mystery tried to move, but the cuffs prevented much of her motion.  
“We have to turn off the gas.” Don told them, “If she regains enough energy to use her powers, she can bust out.”  
“And then free us, right?” Mikey asked.  
Both Raph and Don shot him an annoyed expression.  
“Something I could help you with?” Came a voice from above. They all looked to the source to find Leo peeking out from the shadows of the ceiling.  
“Le-OW!” Mikey cried, as Don kicked him.  
“Quiet, Mikey. We don’t want to attract Doom’s attention.” Don scolded.  
“Or the Shredder’s.” Leo added.  
“What!?” The rest of the turtle brothers gasped in unison.  
“What is Shred Head teaming up with Doom for?” Mikey asked.  
“We’ll figure that out later.” Leo told them, “Right now a jail break is in order.”  
“Mystery first.” Raph said.  
Leo nodded and leapt down to the floor. He turned the gas off and was about to loosen her cuffs when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps.  
“Leo. Hide.” Raph called in an urgent whisper, “We’ll take it from here.”  
Leo leapt back up into the shadows among the ceiling; hidden from searching eyes. The door slid open, and Doom and the Shredder walked in. Doom glared over at Mystery. She moved only slightly, still feeling the effects of the gas. Everyone held their breath as he looked at the gas tank. They only breathed after he turned away; not noticing it was turned off. The Shredder began to laugh.  
“I so enjoy seeing you turtles like this.” He told them, scraping his hand knives across the wall above their heads.  
“Patience, Shredder. In order for our enemies to be truly destroyed, they must suffer first.” Doom said.  
“What did you have in mind?” Shredder asked.  
“Our forces are already in position in New York.” Doom began, “Through this screen they will watch us destroy the city they tried so hard to protect. Then, of course, you can rebuild it as you see fit, as per our agreement.”  
“Excellent.” Shredder marveled.  
“But before we get started, I have a surprise for the Fantastic Four.” Doom continued. Reed frowned. Doom walked over to Mystery, without blocking her from the FF’s view.  
“What is your name, child?” Doom asked.  
“Mystery.” She replied.  
“Mystery? Hardly.” Doom leaned down and grabbed the top of her head, “I know exactly who you are.”  
Her eyes widened, as much as they could, as panic set in.  
“And I’m sure the rock monster would love to know.”  
Ben gave a small, confused look.  
“Wouldn’t he?” Doom went on, as he slowly pulled off her mask, “Kaitlyn.”  
Her brown hair fell out and landed softly beside her face. She looked at the floor, not wanting to face her Uncle. She slowly lifted her head and made eye contact with him. She had to fight the urge to quickly bring her head back down when she saw the shocked, hurt look in his eyes.  
“Uncle Ben. I swear I was going to tell you.” She knew it sounded like a half assed excuse, but Kaitlyn hoped her Uncle would hear the truth in her voice. He looked down and began shaking his head.  
He didn’t believe her.  
“I was going to tell you when I got home from school.” Kaitlyn continued, “H.E.R.B.I.E. told me you went after Doom, so I waited for you, but you never came home so-”  
“You came after them?” Shredder interrupted, “How foolish.”  
Kaitlyn shot him a glare, but quickly turned back to her Uncle.  
“Please, Uncle Ben. Please believe me.” She begged.  
“We’ll talk about this later.” Ben told her.  
“I’m afraid you won’t have a later.” Doom sneered.  
“Think again.” Kaitlyn challenged, as she broke her restraints.


	11. Cheating Death

Doom’s and Shredder’s eyes grew wide; the only evidence that shocked expressions now occupied their faces. They stared at Kaitlyn as she stood.  
“Impossible.” Doom muttered, “The gas should have –“  
“I guess it broke.” Kaitlyn mocked. Leo jumped down from the ceiling.  
“I may have had something to do with that.” He said, before slicing a control panel; releasing his brothers and the Fantastic Four.  
“You!” Shredder bellowed. He began to engage the turtle, but Doom stopped him.  
“There’s no use fighting.” He said, “With the Doombots and Foot ninja in New York, we are outnumbered.”  
“Smart move, Doom. That’s so unlike you.” Ben taunted.  
“We except your surrender, then, Doom.” Reed told him.  
“Oh, we’re not surrendering.” Doom corrected him, “We’re just not going to waste any time fighting you.”  
“Is anyone else confused?” Mikey asked.  
Just then, Doom’s and Shredder’s face masks fell to the floor to reveal a black screen and a red number counting down. Mikey let out a high pitched scream.  
“Evil cyborgs!” He cried.  
“No, Mikey,” Don told him, “They’re bombs! We need to get out of here!”  
Leo attempted to open the door, “Locked.”  
“Let me try something.” Kaitlyn said as she walked up to the door and placed a hand on it. A powerful shock knocked her back. Ben jerked in her direction with the intent of catching her, but Raph was faster and already had Kaitlyn in his arms. Ben noticed the way they looked at each other, but he temporarily shrugged it off. Now was not the time to be worrying about Kaitlyn and boys.  
“The countdown’s running out!” Mikey shrieked.  
“Calm down, Mikey.” Leo told him, “There has to be a way out.”  
“I’ve got it.” Raph said, releasing Kaitlyn and drawing one of his sai. He moved towards the door’s control panel.  
“Raph, no.” Donnie grabbed his wrist, “If you destroy the controls, it could lock the door.”  
“It’s already locked!” Raph argued.  
“Permanently!” Donnie replied.  
“Reed, can you hack the controls?” Susan asked.  
“Not enough time.” Reed replied, “Ben, can you smash the door?”  
“Not with that electric shock rigged to it.” Ben told him.  
“Let me melt it!” Johnny cried; his hands bursting into flames. He shot the fire at the door, but they seemed to have no effect.  
“Doom’s thought of everything.” Reed sighed.  
“Wait!” Mikey burst, “Invisible Woman! Your force shields!”  
“I don’t think I’m strong enough to make one that can save all of us from a blast this close.” She told him. Mikey’s shoulders sank.  
“We don’t have a lot of options.” Leo spoke, “Or a lot of time. You have to try.”  
Fear fell onto Susan’s face as she glanced at the near end countdown. Reed put his hand on her shoulder, “You can do it, sue. You’re more than strong enough.” Her fear turned into determination.  
“Get as far away from the bombs as possible.” She told everyone.

0:03  
0:02  
0:01

  
  
Doom, while safely in New York City with the Shredder, looked at the flashing message on his gauntlet informing him that the bombs had successfully gone off.  
“It is done.” He told the Shredder.  
“Do not assume such until it is proven to be true.” Shredder advised.  
“I have taken every precaution to ensure that they could not survive that blast.” Doom countered.  
“Heroes have a tendency for being annoyingly lucky.”  
“I don’t believe in luck.”  
The criminal masterminds watched as their loyal soldiers laid waste to the city. Civilians ran for cover as buildings were destabilized and fell to the ground. People were caught under debris and trapped in cars. Children were separated from their parents.  
“Do you plan on leaving survivors?” Doom asked, looking upon the carnage.  
“Only the co-operative ones.” Shredder replied.  
  


~*~

  
The majority of the city had been destroyed. Survivors were kept in makeshift prisons; previous prisoners were released and given the choice to join Shredder’s army. Those who refused were killed.  
“It would seem our partnership is at its end.” Doom spoke, “I shall leave you to your city.”  
“Our business is not yet over. Not until we are certain that all our enemies perished.” Shredder told him.  
“Surly, if they had survived, they would be here now attempting to foil us.” Doom shrugged off Shredder’s worry. He moved towards his flying vehicle.  
“Perhaps the one called Reed was right about your ignorance, Doom.” Shredder hissed. Doom quickly spun on his heel to face Shredder, his eyes narrowed in anger.  
“You would be wise to keep silent, Saki,” Doom bellowed, “Before I change my mind about letting you live!”  
Shredder’s eyes narrowed and his daughter reached for her sword.  
“The heroes have been terminated!” Doom continued, “And shall not be interfering with our plans again!”  
“I wouldn’t bet on that.” Came a voice from above. The villains looked up to see the nine heroes they had been discussing, fine and well, occupying a turtle themed chopper.  
“I told you, Doom.” Reed said, “Ignorance.”


	12. Beginning Battle

“Impossible.” Doom groaned, “I made precautions for every outcome.”  
“Well, I guess you didn’t expect us to  _outcome_  our restraints.” Mikey taunted, poorly.  
“Mikey, you’re not even makin’ sense anymore.” Raph told him, placing his hand over his face.  
“Foot soldiers! Attack!” Shredder bellowed.  
“Doombots, engage!” Doom ordered.  
All the heroes but Don leapt out of the Shellicopter towards the attacking army. The Thing took out several ‘bots and ninjas on his way down. The ninjas were knocked unconscious when they landed, but the Doombots just got back up and began fighting back. Hun and Karai quickly joined the battle. Leo clashed blades with Karai.  
“Can’t you see what the Shredder is doing, Karai?” Leo asked her, “Even you should consider he’s taking this too far.”  
A thoughtful look crossed her face, but she did not respond. She thrust her sword towards him and he blocked it. He realized she had made her decision to stay loyal, so he decided there was no use talking and countered attack.  
Hun tried to go up against the Thing but was quickly tossed into the nearest pile of rubble. He got back up and decided he’d have a better chance at one of the turtles. He charged at Raph, who was fighting back to back with Mystery. She saw him coming and took several steps towards him.  
“Incoming, Raph.” She warned, as she crouched down and swung her leg at Hun’s ankles. He landed face first and continued to tumble towards Raph, who simply flipped out of the way.  
“Best stay down, lard butt. We’d hate to have you get knocked on yer ass again.” Raph taunted. Hun growled in return and stood; towering over the teens.  
“I don’t think so.” He told them. Raph and Mystery took defence stances; preparing to fight the giant. Hun raised his arms in the air, but before he could bring them down again the Thing came up behind him and forced him back to the ground.  
“You should have listened.” The Thing growled. He picked Hun back up and threw him into the same pile of rubble as before.  
Leo and Karai continued to fight. Sparks flying as their blades made contact. Leo knew they were evenly matched with skill and had to find another way to change the odds. He glanced at the nearest Doombot with his peripheral vision and came up with a plan. He shoved Karai’s blades aside, flipped over her and kicked her in the back. She landed on her knees; catching herself before face planting into the ground. While she was down and turned away from him, Leo caught the attention of one of the Doombots. It started towards him, raising its cannon. Leo turned back to Karai, raising his swords and using them as mirrors to keep track of the Doombot behind him. Karai got back to her feet, but before she could attack again, Leo leapt to the side. That’s when Karai saw the Doombot and its raised cannon. There was no time to dodge as the beam of energy shot towards her. It struck her in the abdomen and sent her flying backwards, Leo bounded towards the Doombot, “Thanks for the assist.” He said, before separating its head from its body. He flipped back over to Karai and stared at her fallen form. She was still breathing, but not getting up any time soon. Satisfied, Leo rejoined his brothers and the Fantastic Four.  
The battle continued to rage as new Doombots replaced the ones that fell and the foot soldiers refused to stay down. The Fantastic Four were having a harder time with the ninjas. They were skilled at dodging attacks and the Fantastic Four’s were easy for them to avoid. Even if Sue turned invisible, the ninjas seemed to know where she was by sensing her presence.  
“We need a new tactic.” Reed suggested.  
“Agreed.” Leo replied, “I suggested we take this battle to the top.”  
“We’ve already lost the element of surprise.” Mystery told them, knocking a couple Foot soldiers to the ground. The Fantastic Four were impressed, especially her Uncle, who wondered just how much time his niece had been spending with these ninja turtle creatures.  
“We should distract them,” Mystery continued, “Or get them to fight each other for us.”  
“I like that plan.” Don said, short circuiting a Doombot by pulling some wires from its exposed back.  
“Why not both?” Mikey asked, “You know how much I love being a distraction.”  
“Believe me, we know.” Raph mumbled.  
“Alright, Mikey distracts them while the rest of us flank from behind.” Leo directed, “Then we try to get them arguing during the fight.”  
“Donnie, give us cover.” Raph said.  
Donnie pulled out a handful of smoke bombs and shot them at the ground. Smoke quickly covered the area.  
“What!?” Doom bellowed.  
“Prepare yourself, Doom.” Shredder warned. The two villains stared at the smoke, waiting for movement. Finally Don and Mikey leapt into sight, straight for their enemies. Don threw a couple electric ninja stars, which each embedded into one of the villains. It sent a shock threw their armour and they let out screams of pain, until they were able to yank the devices out.  
“Your toys cannot save you or this city.” Shredder threatened.  
“They can’t?” Mikey said sarcastically, “Awe, man.”  
Doom and Shredder were about to lunge at the turtles when a heavy blow came from behind. They fell hard. When they looked up, they saw the Thing with clenched fists, standing alongside the other heroes. The villains quickly looked back to the area of the fight that had been taking place moments before. The smoke had cleared, to reveal downed Doombots and unconscious Foot ninjas.  
“We incapacitated your armies while they were blinded by the smoke.” Don explained.  
Shredder clenched his fists, “What kind of robots can’t even see through smoke?” He bellowed at Doom.  
“They’re not ninjas.” Doom retorted, “And apparently neither are your Foot soldiers!”  
“Looks like this will be easier than we thought.” Mikey whispered to the others.  
Suddenly Doom’s suit came to life and he rocketed into the air above the heroes.  
“Your time has run out, Saki.” Doom roared, “You have become more of a nuisance than an aid. So I will no longer be in need of your assistance.” He warmed up his weapons and aimed them at his former ally.


	13. Broken Alliance

Suddenly, Karai leapt in front of her father, swinging her sword to point it at Doom. She was guarding her left arm, holding it close to her chest. It must have been injured by the Doombot, or broken.  
“You will not harm my father!” She cried.  
“This is getting good. Anyone got popcorn?” Mikey asked. Raph swatted the back of his head, and Mikey let out a small cry of irritation.  
“Out of the way, child.” Doom ordered, “I have no problem eliminating you along with your father.”  
“Time to step in.” Leo said, drawing his swords. Using the environment, he leapt up close enough to Doom to slash his gauntlet and discharge his weapon. Doom cried out in anger, “Foolish creature!”  
He turned his other gauntlet towards Leo. Mystery then flicked her wrist and sent Doom rocketing skyward using her telekinesis. He was able to stabilize his rockets and lowered himself to his previous altitude.  
“I am the wrong person to be messing with.” Doom threatened.  
“You underestimate your enemies.” Karai countered, as she tossed several shurikens at his rockets, shorting them out. Doom fell to the ground, but managed to keep his balanced and remain on his feet. He shot out his working gauntlet and fired his weapon at Shredder and his daughter. He and Karai dodged the attack. Raph jumped in and grabbed Doom by the wrist using the prongs of his sai. He twisted Dooms arm and held his other sai at his throat.  
“Not so fast, tough guy.” Raph growled, “I still haven’t paid you back for what happened last time.”  
The Thing came around the other side and grabbed Doom’s remaining arm.  
“What happened last time?” He asked.  
“Uh, I’ll explain later, Mr. Grimm.” Raph replied.  
“You won’t have a later.” Doom interjected. Electricity suddenly shot from Doom’s suit and through Raph and the Thing. Ben fought through it and yanked Doom into the air to shake Raph from his reach. Ben proceeded to throw Doom to the ground with maximum force. Shredder saw his opportunity and lunged at Doom, intent on ending his life. Reed stretched out and wrapped himself around the Shredder like a cobra, causing him to fall short of Doom.  
Karai leapt into action, ready to defend her master. She was stopped by one of Sue’s force shields, and because of her damaged arm, Karai was unable to escape.  
Reed cried out in pain, “His armour is quite sharp.”  
“What’d you expect? He looks like a giant can opener.” Mikey told him.  
“It’s also not armour. Not really.” Don added, “It’s a robotic exo-suit to make him appear human.”  
“Wait. He’s  _not_  human?” Johnny asked.  
Don shook his head, “Can you super heat his suit?”  
“Can I ever.” Johnny replied.  
“Wait, won’t that kill him?” Susan asked, panicked.  
“He’s tougher to kill than you’d think. Trust us.” Mikey ensured her.  
“Johnny! When I say!” Reed called to him, “Now!” He released Shredder and quickly got out of the way as Johnny shot flames towards the villain as hot as he could manage. Shredder screamed, but more from anger than pain.  
“Kill the flames!” Leo called.  
Johnny flamed off.  
The flames receded, and they saw the Shredders suit melting from his form. He attempted to move, but the dripping metal made his movements sluggish. The metal armour encasing the alien conqueror began to be cool and his motion slowed to a stop. Frustrated grunts were heard from the center of the suit, as the Shredder tried in vain to move.  
  
With the Shredder immobile, Karai trapped in a force shield and Doom pinned to the ground by the ever-loving-blue-eyed Thing, the victory clearly belonged to the heroes. But the villains weren’t willing to be defeated so easily. Shredder had managed to kick off the plating on his suit’s stomach and squirm out, revealing his small, squid-like, alien appearance. He latched onto Susan’s leg, causing her to scream and lose focus. Her force shield quickly vanished, and before anyone could come to Susan’s aid, Karai grabbed her father and vanished into the shadows. Doom, taking advantage of the situation, activated his suit’s electric weapon to stun the Thing. The hero’s grip was loosened enough for Doom to escape and fly off towards his castle using backup repulsors.  
“Flame on!” Johnny cried, leaping into the air to chase after Doom.  
Doom spun his arm around and shot a goop substance from a nozzle on his gauntlet at the flaming hero. It extinguished Johnny’s fire and he fell. Susan was able to construct another force shield to catch her brother and lower him to the ground.  
“Awe, now I have to shower!” Johnny whined.  
“Not our biggest problem right now, matchstick.” Ben told him, “Doom and those two ninjas got away.”  
“Looks like Hun’s still passed out in that rubble.” Mikey chimed, trying to stay positive.  
“Leader of the Purple Dragon gang.” Leo stated, “Better than nothing.”  
  
With the villains’ plan thwarted, the turtle brothers decided it was time to disappear before anyone saw them. The Fantastic Four, however, still had their work cut out for them. They stayed to clean the damage and tend to the survivors. Most of the buildings would take time to be repaired or rebuilt, but the heroes managed to get all the debris cleaned up and made arrangements for those without homes to have a place to sleep for the foreseeable future. And finally, with the wounded looked after, the Fantastic Four were able to go home. However, there was still a matter to discuss, if Ben wanted to talk that is.  
“Uncle Ben?” Kaitlyn began, still in her costume but with her mask in hand.  
“Not tonight.” Ben told her, “It’s late and I’m tired.” And with that, he left to go to his room for the night. Kaitlyn hung her head in sadness.  
“Well,” Johnny spoke up in the awkward silence, “I’ll be heading to bed too, then.” He walked off quickly, heading to the shower first.  
“I’d actually like to know-” Reed began, before being cut off by Sue.  
“No, no, no.” she told him, “You go work on … whatever experiments you have in your lab currently.” She shoved him off and he left reluctantly, still wanting to know more about the turtle brothers.  
Susan went back to Kaitlyn and placed a hand on her shoulder, “Give him time. He’ll come around to talking eventually.”


	14. The Talk

The next morning came and went, and Ben Grimm was still avoiding a talk with Kaitlyn. He made her breakfast in silence and saw her off to school without a word. Kaitlyn was itching for a talk, hoping it would repair their broken friendship, but she didn’t want to force it on him and instead waited for him to speak first; if it ever happened. J.J. greeted her when she got to school. She told him what happened and he comforted her, knowing that this was the situation she had feared and the reason she kept secrets in the first place.  
  
Ben was moping around back at the Baxter Building. He had opened the fridge several times only to close it after realizing he still wasn’t in the mood to eat. Susan had been watching and decided it was time to intervene.  
“Don’t know what to eat?” She asked.  
“Not hungry.” He replied.  
“There’s a first.” She said, keeping her serious expression.  
He looked over in her direction, “What am I gonna do, Suzie?” He asked.  
“You could talk to her.”  
“I don’t know what to say.”  
“Then don’t say anything. Just listen. Let her explain.” She paused and Ben lowered his head. “Remember when you thought her behaviour was a sign she didn’t want to be your friend anymore?” Susan continued, “That’s not the case. She wants to fix this as much as you do. Just give her the chance to do so.” Susan stood and left Ben alone with his thoughts.  
  


~*~

  
The school day ended and Kaitlyn made her way home with Kris. Raph had texted her, asking if she still wanted to meet up after school. She texted back saying she had to get home to hopefully patch things up with her Uncle. He understood and wished her luck. The twins got to the Baxter Building, greeted the doorman, and took the elevator up to the penthouse. When they got inside, Kaitlyn saw her Uncle sitting in the living room starring at the turned off television. Kris didn’t notice, and instead took off towards his room to do anything but his homework.  
“Uncle Ben?” Kaitlyn spoke up.  
He jerked his head in her direction, “Kit Kat. You’re home.”  
 _‘He’s calling me Kit Kat again. That’s a good sign.’_  She thought.  
“Yeah. What are you up to?” She asked, glancing at the TV.  
“I was just thinking.” He replied, “Come have a seat.”  
She went in and sat next to her Uncle. She removed her bag and set it next to her on the floor.  
“First, I want to apologize for not giving you a chance to explain.” Ben told her, “And I’d like to give you that chance now.”  
Kaitlyn smiled. He finally wanted to talk.  
“Well,” she began, “A little after I came to live here, I discovered I had powers. Telekinesis, intangibility, and super strength.”  
“Telekinesis is moving things with yer brain, right? But what’s intangibility?” Ben asked.  
“I can move through solid objects. Like Kitty Pryde from the X-school.” Kaitlyn explained.  
Her Uncle nodded.  
“I started to train my powers,” She continued, “And when that man who murdered my parents escaped, I went out to seek revenge. I become Mystery. That same night I met the guys. The turtles you met at Doom’s castle. We became friends and then helped you defeat Doom a couple months ago.”  
“That was you guys makin’ the ‘bots fall?” Ben asked.  
“Yeah.” Kaitlyn replied, “Anyway, I’ve been going out on patrol with the turtles every night since. Which is why I’ve been sneaking out and not studying.” She lowered her head slightly, “And the other day I  _did_  come home to tell you everything. I swear it’s true. The only reason I didn’t tell you for so long is that I was afraid you wouldn’t let me be Mystery anymore. But I don’t care about that now. I just want things to be the way they used to between us.”  
Ben starred at his niece. “I’ll admit,” He said after a moment, “I might have been too nervous to let you continue if you’d told me right away, but only because I don’t want anything to happen to you. And it still doesn’t make keeping it a secret the right thing to do. This is the sort of thing I need to know about.”  
“I understand, Uncle Ben.” Kaitlyn told him.  
“But now that I’ve seen you in action, I think I can let you continue.” Ben added.  
“Really!?”  
“It’s also a relief to know the reason you were pulling away wasn’t because you were starting to hate me.”  
“Oh, Uncle Ben,” Kaitlyn stood and hugged her Uncle, “I could never hate you. You’re the best Uncle I could ever have.”  
Ben returned the hug, and for a long moment they stayed that way.  
“However,” Ben began, pulling out of the hug to face his niece, “There will have to be rules, and a new curfew. And I’ll feel better if you get some extra training.”  
Kaitlyn nodded.  
“I can take care of your super strength training,” Ben continued, “And I’ll have to talk to Professor X and the Avengers about possibly giving you private sessions.”  
Kaitlyn smiled bright and wrapped her arms around his neck, “You’re the best, Uncle Ben.”  
“One last thing.” He said.  
“Yeah?”  
“You have to invite your turtle friends over for dinner, so I can properly meet ‘em.”


	15. Epilogue

The turtle brothers were busy getting ready for the dinner they had been invited to that evening. They decided it would be best to wear clothing for the event and were currently getting dressed.  
“Is this all we have to wear?” Mikey whined. He had on a pair of dark jeans and was waving around a couple orange shirts; one solid colour long sleeve and the other a T-shirt with a light stripe across the shoulders.  
“Since we don’t usually wear clothes, we don’t own a whole lot of them.” Donnie explained, as he pulled on a purple sweater, “Meaning few options.”  
“In other words: deal with it!” Raph barked from his room.  
“Then let’s call April. Ask her to bring more options.” Mikey suggested.  
“No time, Mikey.” Leo said calmly. He had on a navy, casual jacket over a white shirt, and jeans.  
“But this is the Fantastic Four! I need to make a good impression!” Mikey argued.  
“Then you don’t want to be late.” Leo countered.  
“Yeah, but … but.” Mikey struggled to come up with another excuse.  
“Just put on the damn clothes.” Raph growled as he smacked Mikey in the back of the head as he came out of his room. He was wearing a red, button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and dusty coloured jeans.  
Mikey finally put on the clothes he had been flailing about disgustedly, choosing to wear the T-shirt.  
  


~*~

  
The turtles arrived at the Baxter Building with Master Splinter, who decided to tag along. They were extra cautious, being as the sun hadn’t set yet, and snuck into the pent house through a window Kaitlyn left open for them.  
“Hey guys.” Kaitlyn greeted them as she walked into the room, “Right this way.”  
They followed her to the dining table. Kris came in at that moment and saw their guests. He had been told about the turtles and the battle they had taken part in with the FF, but this was his first time seeing them. He rolled his eyes, mostly at the fact that this was his life’s new normal, and took his seat. Ben was in the kitchen preparing the food, while the rest of the Fantastic Four were seated at the table. Susan let out a small cry upon seeing Master Splinter, but quickly apologized.  
Splinter nodded, “It’s fine. You are not the first to react in that manner.”  
Susan’s lips curved into a sympathetic smile. Ben came in with the food and Kaitlyn introduced everyone as those left standing took a seat.  
  
The conversation went far beyond the time it took to eat diner. Reed had gotten to ask any and all questions he had about their guests’ existence; how they came to be and so forth. Mikey got to hear some of the heroes’ more discrete adventures that didn’t make it into the media while Donnie engaged himself in a rather complex, scientific discussion with Reed. Raph and Ben had hit it off, and Leo and Master Splinter were politely chatting up Susan. The evening began to wind down and Kaitlyn decided it was time to reveal one more secret. She had already discussed it with Raph through text messages. She looked at him and he nodded. He was slightly nervous, especially since he was sitting right next to Kaitlyn’s Uncle.  
“Uncle Ben, I have something I want to tell you.” Kaitlyn spoke up, as the rest of the table grew quiet, “For about two months, Raph and I … have been dating.”  
Ben’s and Master Splinter’s eyes widened, neither knowing how to react to the news.  
The table remained silent, until Johnny burst into laughter much like he bursts into flames.  
“What’s so funny, Flame Brain!?” Ben demanded.  
“She … she must really have a thing for freaks.” Johnny replied between laughs.  
“Maybe it’s the mask,” Kris added, “Red  _is_  her favourite colour.  
Kaitlyn’s eyes suddenly glowed white as her brows fell into a frown. She wanted to telekinetically pull their chairs out from under them, but the warning look she got from her Uncle convinced her not to. Her eyes returned to normal and she took Raph’s hand in hers.  
“Johnathon and Kristopher! That is  _not_  how we treat out guests!” Susan scolded.  
“Does that mean you want us to leave?” Kris asked, sounding a little too hopeful.  
Susan sighed heavily as placed one hand over her forehead and waved the boys away with the other.  
“Don’t listen to them. They treat me the same way.” Ben told the Hamato family. He gave Raph a friendly smack on the back, “Welcome to the family, kid.”

End


End file.
